Really ah? Then how come more and more people are asking for
financial help?
The Sunday Times
2nd Dec 2007
We can barely stay afloat, say low-income folk
ADMINISTRATIVE assistant Noor Zeen earns $1,350 a month and has not
paid her utility bills for the past four months.
Prices of everyday goods have gone up and she finds that she no
longer earns enough to cover household expenses.
The 28-year-old divorcee said her monthly utility bill alone has
gone up by at least $20. The breadwinner in her family, she lives
in a four-room flat in Hougang with her mother, her eight-year-old
son and her late aunt's two children.
Cash-strapped and with unpaid utility bills of about $600, Madam
Noor asked her MP, Madam Cynthia Phua (Aljunied GRC), for financial
help last week.
After the soft-spoken woman poured out her financial woes, Madam
Phua put her on short-term financial assistance that will provide
her with $200 for the next three months.
The economy may be buoyant, but low-wage earners such as Madam Noor
have been telling MPs and social workers that they can barely stay
afloat because the cost of living has been going up.
These workers say that their wages are not rising as fast as
inflation.
In October, inflation rose to a 16-year high of 3.6 per cent. Two
months ago, prices of food staples such as bread and noodles went
up by 20 per cent. Soaring oil prices have also driven up pump
prices and electricity tariffs.
Median monthly starting pay for cleaners and labourers has in fact
fallen by nearly one-third, from $860 to $600, between 1996 and
last year.
Twelve MPs and social workers interviewed said pleas for financial
help from residents are growing louder but most could not give
figures.
In Jalan Besar GRC, MP Lily Neo said she sees about 60 hard-luck
cases a week at her Meet-the-People sessions. In the past, she saw
about 40 cases.
She said: 'Each week, I find myself busier and busier, staying
longer and longer, because there are so many people asking for
financial help.''
Madam Halimah Yacob, an MP for Jurong GRC, said some of the
low-income residents are holding two jobs and doing overtime, yet
they still ask for rations of basic items such as cooking oil and
Milo because they do not earn enough to feed their families.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC) observed that those on financial aid
schemes are showing up more often at Meet-the-People
Sessions.
'They used to come once every three months. Now, some come back
every couple of weeks to ask for food and utility vouchers,' he
said, because their cash is running out faster.
Mr Charles Chong (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) said he was even told off
by a retiree who had asked for financial aid.
The elderly man told the MP: 'I'm retired, in my 60s, have no job
and living off my savings. But GST is up, food prices are up,
inflation is up. The only thing that has not gone up is the banks'
interest rates!'
Mr Sim Boon Choon, 68, is in the same boat as the retiree. He tries
to stretch every cent of the $290 in public assistance that he
receives every month.
A loaf of bread now costs 20 cents more and the price of a packet
of 20 Milo sachets is up by 40 cents. Even chicken rice and kway
teow soup at the hawker centre cost 50 cents more.
To save money, he has stopped eating out for all his meals. Dinner
is a simple meal of bread and Milo. To save electricity, the
bachelor does not switch on the lights in his one-room Telok
Blangah flat.
Even then, he finds himself running out of money before the month
is up. 'I'm already very thrifty but the money is still not
enough,' he said in Hokkien. Shocked
In March, public welfare recipients such as Mr Sim had their
monthly allowance raised from $260 to $290 to offset the impact of
the GST hike and rising cost of living.
But social workers said the $30 increment is not enough, given that
inflation has risen so high.
Ms Grace Lee, centre director of Care Corner Family Service Centre
(Toa Payoh), said the centre has been receiving more requests for
the monthly free food packages of rice, instant noodles and canned
food.
At least 100 packages are handed out, compared to 80 a few months
back.
Over at the Care Corner Seniors Activity Centre in Toa Payoh,
programme executive Lim Siew Eng said the elderly poor who show up
for free daily lunches are asking for larger portions to take home
for dinner. A typical lunch consists of rice, mixed vegetables and
meat.
MP Cynthia Phua said she has been advising the elderly in her ward
to rent out the rooms in their flats to generate income.
She said: 'A can of luncheon meat used to cost $1.30. Now it's
$2.50. Not everyone can afford that, especially the elderly who are
not working and depending on handouts.'
MPs said that they try not to give cash to residents seeking aid
because they cannot ensure that the money is spent on food. They
prefer to give food vouchers.
While utility, service and conservancy rebates, and Workfare
payouts have helped, the MPs hope that the Government would come up
with schemes which help those without income cope with the rising
cost of living.
Pasir Ris-Punggol's Mr Chong said: 'The current schemes that we
have, such as Workfare, help those who work. But for the elderly
who are retired and sickly, we need to find new schemes for
them.'
The Government has said that it will not keep prices artificially
low by controlling price increases to help people cope with the
rising cost of living. Its aim is to get the basics right -
housing, jobs and affordable necessities.
It also tops up the wages of low-income workers through Workfare
and gives various cash handouts and rebates. A total of 2.4 million
Singaporeans are eligible for $650 million in GST credits and
senior citizens' bonuses this year.
It is not just the low income who are feeling the pinch. Mayor for
Central Singapore district, Mr Zainudin Nordin, said families
living in four- and five-room flats are trying to downgrade to
smaller flats because they cannot afford the cash portion of their
mortgage.
He said: 'These families find that they need that few hundred
dollars for other necessities now that prices have gone up. They
can't afford to put aside any cash for housing.'
For housewife Norliza Maidin, 40, the rising cost of living could
not have come at a worse time.
Her husband was retrenched from his warehouse supervisor job last
year and now earns $1,500 - $500 less than his previous pay.
The couple have two sons -- aged five and one - and Madam Norliza's
elderly mother lives with them in a four-room flat in Jurong.
Madam Norliza limits the family's electricity usage to $3 a day,
chooses the cheapest fish and buys the cheapest groceries.
But she still finds herself with no savings at the end of the
month. Sometimes, she has to borrow money from friends.
After being out of the workforce for five years, she is back in the
job market because she wants to supplement her husband's
income.
'I want to save for a rainy day. And buy better food for my
children, such as salmon and not just selar,' she said.
With inflation expected to go up to 4.5 per cent next year, MPs
such as Madam Phua think that the number of financial aid requests
they are receiving is only the tip of the iceberg.
She said: 'I believe more will ask for financial help. This is just
the beginning.'
